AMBERLINGS (photo art) & THINGS PAST (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

THINGS PAST

what a mess! the dashboard
of her car is littered with trash
from previous road trips

amber beer bottles almost
completely obscure the view
across the hood to the far wall
of the dingy garage

I reach around to toss the garbage
into the back seat while the driver,
a long time woman friend of mine,
clambers in behind the wheel,
clearly in quite a hurry

I'm even more astonished to see
yet more empty amber bottles
poking out at all angles
from paper bags and wrappers
of all kinds on the back seat floor

I stop tossing, concerned
that bottle will shatter bottle,
creating an endless mess

and ignoring the driver's impatient
muttering I worry over what can
be done with all these hollow
shapes of things past

all these holdings echoing
their own emptiness
like hardened habits


[free verse poem on a dream of 10-15-13. I saw the color amber in the dream. It's rather unusual for me to see color in a dream. I usually just know what color something is. And of those few times I do recall seeing color it's not ever been amber. My immediate waking association to "amber" was to the fossilized resin. I.e., something really old. Photo art "Amberlings" (6-15-11) by Roswila]

BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO DREAMKU (& PHOTOS): The dream-based poems posted on this blog -- dreamku, tanka, two-liners, monoku, free verse, etc. -- are offered in the spirit of collaboration. I have done my part. Now it’s your turn to jump in and see what comes up for you. I.e., there is no right or wrong way to relate to any of these dream offerings. Even my own understandings of them change over time. And it gives me joy when a reader sees something in any of them that I have not.

Also please note that a dream poem is not intended as an interpretation of a dream, or even a complete and accurate rendering of one. It is my attempt to get down dream imagery/action that grabs me and, as I write about it, elicits my conscious written association and response. Nor do I believe that one has to remember dreams in order for them to do their work. In my understanding, we are much more than our conscious selves.

You may also note in any further reading on dreamku (the specific forms of dreamku, tanka, two-liners and monoku) you may do here, that in the beginning I stressed "showing, not telling." However, this has been changing for some time now. I now tend to "show" (the dream narrative) and cap if off with a "tell" (some reaction and/or insight I've had to the dream as I was writing about it). This pretty much applies to free verse dream poems as well.

For more in-depth exploration of the dreamku forms specifically (and one post in which I also address my photo choices):

-- very brief comparison of dreamku and haiku: DREAMKU ARE NOT HAIKU

-- a brief post about both dreamku and my photos THE AREN'TS OF DREAMKU & ACCOMPANYING DIGITAL PHOTOS.

-- detailed three-part post about dreamku: "A DREAMKU PRIMER: Writing Haiku-Like Poems About Your Night Dreams": PART ONE: Introduction & Writing Dreamku as Dream Work; PART TWO: Elements of the Haiku Form Used in Dreamku; and PART THREE: How to Write Dreamku (the second and third parts have some overlap).

-- a short up-dating post about the three-part "A DREAMKU PRIMER" -- Important Up-date to A DREAMKU PRIMER....".

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‘til next time, keep dreaming,






If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or poems, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”). Roswila's connections & other blogs: Charter Member of the United Haiku and Tanka Society (UHTS); ROSWILA’S TAROT GALLERY & JOURNAL; ROSWILA’S TAIGA TAROT; and TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT.